I have some plastic shims I can use for the SSD, but the problem then becomes the screws. If I can find some screws that are long enough I can make it work. It will be a pain in the butt, as I will have to remove the motherboard and the power supply to get to it. I really like the idea of mounting the SSD behind the motherboard tray, but it would have been so much better on some type of mount instead of directly to the tray.
I have one issue that I cannot resolve. I did a clean installation Windows 7 Update, which I then had to install over itself to activate the "Update" license. After the second install, I activated Windows with no problem and I completed the normal barrage of Windows updates. When I checked C Drive for usage, the installation was taking up just over 50GB. I am accustomed to a clean installation being in the low-20GB range. I looked hard, to include searching for hidden system files, and could not find where all the extra space went.
In frustration I started fresh again. I did another clean installation and I verified that the SSD did not have any bloat. After formatting it, the 256GB drive was reporting around 238GB available, which is about what I expected. After that clean installation I immediately checked the SSD usage and found that Windows was taking up just shy of 40GB. What the??? I then did the second installation and activated Windows once more. I'm now going through the endless updates (currently 212 pending) with no answers to my problem.
So I checked my old systems. The last time I looked at my current setup it was at about 30GB. Today it is at 48GB. I next checked my wife's system, which was also around 30GB. But not today. It is currently at 77GB! Keep in mind that both of our systems are nearly identically set up, and I am meticulous about keeping them maintained. The only real difference is that PaperPort 12 is installed on her system, so I'm perplexed.
Storage Space Goblins aside, the new build is running fine. It is no doubt the fastest computer that I have ever touched. From a dead stop Windows is up and running in 20 seconds. Everything is snappy, but of course I haven't loaded it with programs yet. The onboard WiFi is nice and fast on the 5GHz frequency, to the point where it feels like a LAN connection. I'm setting it up on the kitchen table, which is about 25 to 30 feet from the router.
I did not have any significant issues putting it together, besides dealing with my own human errors. For example, I knew I had to mount the SSD before mounting the motherboard. But I'll give you one guess as to what I did anyway.
Installing the Noctua NH-14D CPU cooler was fun, as the unit is huge. I did not have any problems with its installation, but it was slow going. I am glad I switched RAM because I think the G-Skill Ripjaws would have been too tall for the NH-14D, which hovers closely over the RAM slots. The HyperX Fury RAM I selected as a replacement is comfortably nested under the cooler. The obvious problem with this setup is having to replace the RAM for some reason, in which case I may have to remove the CPU cooler.
At night, in a very quiet house, the system is barely audible. I had to listen carefully to hear it running unless I set the case fans to high. The fans are controlled by a 3-speed case switch (low/med/hi). If I set the fans to low I cannot hear the system at all. I can't wait to try the silent case. BTW: The case came with 3 each 140mm fans; one in front, one on top and one in back. I removed the top fan and moved it to the front. The silent case only has 2 fans (front and rear), so I'm guessing it will work just fine. Besides, the NH-D14 has 2 massive fans installed (120mm & 140mm). It'll be obvious once the photos are up. The BIOS is reporting a CPU temperature of 34C, which is comfortably very low.
BTW: I have not installed the EVGA GTX 960 GPU card as of yet. The onboard graphics is very fast, so I may end up leaving it as is and installing the GPU on my build. I'll make that decision as soon as I get everything else loaded up and run some tests.
I ran Windows Experience Index on the new build. Results are as follows:
Processor: 7.7
RAM: 7.9
Graphics: 6.8
Gaming: 6.8
Primary disk: 7.9
I still have to get the photos figured out. Once I do I'll poast them here.
Hey, guess which CPU cooler just got Tom's Hardware editor's choice?:
Best Air Coolers of 2015